running, falling and getting up again
by incense-whiskers
Summary: and darcy collects cups of coffee, the comics from the daily paper and helps steve rogers tie his tie/examinations of well-meaning interns with six credits to earn/sifxdarcy


_disclaimer: i do not own the products or the services related to MARVEL comics; including Thor._

_author's note: because while sif is the amazon, i'm not sure she understands the different kinds of strength. (oh, and i stole "squint" from bones)_

_summary: and darcy collects cups of coffee, the comics from the daily paper and helps steve rogers tie his tie/examinations of well-meaning interns with six credits to earn/sifxdarcy_

* * *

><p>(bruce banner is a man of science and he is a rampaging monster)<p>

Sif is wary around the thin, unhappy man – she has seen his other face and the rage that simmers underneath the surface of the sleep-worn skin. In her world, at her own hand even, she has challenged and brought down these kinds of monsters. To keep her great city safe, men such as he would have been slain or cast out.

Darcy does not do these things. Instead of alienating the man, after an episode or a particularly bad night, she hunts through all of the newspapers in the office and scrawls in the margins with arrows and smiley faces. Then she drops by his office, saluting all of the officers poorly before sauntering through the door -

"Hey Banner, today's Blondie _sucks_."

There is a sudden verbal squabble filled with bantering and well-meant nagging : straighten your shirt, eat the banana, stop drinking so much coffee and have a freaking nap you squint.

* * *

><p>(jane foster is a woman of unspeakable devotion)<p>

Sif trusts her future King to this woman, the woman who has broken down the stars and remade them into her own _birfrost_. Her work is but nonsense to the warrior, strange symbols and maps; books written by mortal scholars. Here, Sif has seen her speak and her audience is captivated; but like Sif, she is a woman and her theories are not widely appreciated.

Sif knows this frustration.

One day, early in the morning, she finds Darcy rummaging through the kitchen – there is a beverage and a sweet on a plate, one that she has seen Jane devour with delight. The younger girl wears a savage snarl on her face, throwing heated glares at a strange piece of paper (under which, a latest edition of Jane's favourite scholarly paper is found).

"Jane's not coming into the office today," Darcy says, brushing past the goddess to take off her shoes. "She's gotten some really bad news and if I let her go now, we'll never find the bodies."

Jane's fury is bright like a flare but nonetheless short-lived. Her intern shoves the sweets into her hands and then flips the magazines pages to point out an article and gleefully points something to her and Jane smiles.

* * *

><p>(steve rogers is a gentleman of ideals)<p>

She likes him, truly. He is a man out of time, much like she and the Warriors Three. Unlike her though, he is a kind and gentle man who does not crave the heat of battle, he is a man who will fight with his bare hands if he must to defend his allies, his country, his freedom.

Tonight he has arranged an outing with a woman and he is amusingly nervous. Darcy has sorted through his closet, patiently explained the modern courting protocols and several ground rules that he must follow or something terrible will happen to his manhood. She has also muttered threats to his lady-friend if she does not follow another set of courting-rules. The suit is quite flattering and the flush to his cheeks is endearing.

"You got money for the cab?" Darcy prods, flipping the strange cloth – tie, around his neck in a complicated loop. The Captain smiles and nods. He leaves in the confidence of the warrior Sif has let her own well-being in trust to, but she does not think it will last long after he sees his "date".

The girl is swearing oaths of dismemberment and death if Steven does not, in fact, have a good time.

* * *

><p>"Sif, the guys are asking for-" The girl stops short, closes the door. "Um. You okay?" The warrior forces a smile and a shaky breath.<p>

"I am well."

Darcy snorts, pops her head out the door and yells down the hall.

"C'mon," she commands. "Let's go."

They spend the afternoon with their toes in the sand and drinking a strange drink – a 'sunrise' and Darcy does not talk, but taps her fingers against her glass in time to the beat of the music in her ears.

"Thank you," Sif says as the sky darkens. "This is very kind of you." The girl shrugs, a slight waver to her step but a fond smile on her lips. Her body is warm and soft against Sif's as they start to walk back.

"Somebody's gotta take care of y'all."

* * *

><p>(and that's all there is to it, really.)<p> 


End file.
